Thought for October 11

 History:

• 1138: Earthquake at Aleppo Syria kills 230,000
• 1890: First 100 yard dash under 10 seconds [John Owen]
• 1890: Daughters of the American Revolution founded
• 1929: JC Penney's becomes first nationwide store with stores in all 48 states
• 1939: Einstein tells FDR about possibility of atomic bomb
• 1975: "Saturday Night Live" premiers
• 1983: Last hand-cranked telephones in US go out of service--Bryant Pond Maine
• 1984: First space walk by a woman--Kathryn Sullivan
• 1987: 200,000 march for gay and lesbian rights in Washington DC
• 1992: Debate among Clinton, Bush and Perot
• 2001: Polaroid files for bankruptcy
• 2021: Jon Gruden steps down as Raiders coach
• Born: George Williams [founded YMCA], Henry John Heinz, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jerome Robbins, Elmore Leonard, Dottie West, Daryl Hall [Hall & Oates], Steve Young, Joan Cusack, Luke Perry, Michelle Wie, Cardi B, 
• Died: Huldrych Zwingli [Protestant reformer], Casimir Pulaski [father of American Cavalry], Meriwether Lewis, Chico Marx, Redd Foxx, Werner Von Trapp, Joe Morgan, 

Thought:

Have you ever thought about how one simple temptation, one "minor" sin, one thing that seems right in the eyes of the world, begins a series of events that leads to a disaster for you, your family, your church, your nation. One little insignificant thing yields an unforeseen result. Well, I am looking at a passage that is mostly underlined in red in my Bible--1 Kings 11:1-13.

Solomon is the wisest man ever, the king of a large kingdom, the richest man in the world. But he has a character flaw like many of us. God had commanded that the children of Israel not intermarry with the nations that were conquered in Canaan or the nations that surrounded Israel. So what does Solomon do--he marries foreign women; and not just one or two, he marries a bunch. Why? Why do you think Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines? My ideas are:

• He thought it would create alliances with nations and avoid wars.
• He deserved it as the king. 
• He could afford it because he was rich. 
• He "loved" many women. 

Makes me think of the adage, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We see this in politics, in business, in churches. Power, adoration, worship cause the human recipient to be corrupted--I earned it, I deserve it, I am special, I am above the law, the morals, the judgment of mere mortals.  For Solomon, God had defeated his enemies and given him the largest kingdom in the history of Israel. But Solomon thought that he could buy friendship, allegiance, peace by intermarrying with foreign women. God had made him king yet, Solomon thought that he had a "right" as king to do as he pleased. Solomon had the money, so he could afford it, yet his riches were a gift of God. Solomon lusted after women he saw [perhaps got this from his father]. The result of Solomon's sin was that the kingdom would fall, not in his day, but in the days of his sons [1 Kings 11:12]

This makes me think about my sin. I think I can buy friendship, acceptance, approval and "harmony" by compromising God's commands or just getting along. But a little compromise leads to another, and another, and soon I am far away from God. I have success and think that it is the work of my hands and my effort. Then I fall prey to the commercials that say, "you deserve" this house, this car, this suit, this club membership--you earned it. None of those things is bad, but then my attention and efforts may be turned to a bigger car, bigger house, higher position--I need more money to support the life style I have gotten used to. When my two close friends and I started our law firm in 1997, we established a monthly draw for each of us. When we closed the firm 16 years later those draws had not changed. We decided that we would learn to live on what we made. Now we might have a good year and pay a bonus, but we did not want to get used to needing more and more money because it would change our attitudes toward clients and our work. And all of us are familiar with Solomon's problem of lust--not just sexual---we lust for attention, acceptance, power, prestige, position. 

What does this story tell me---be careful. God gave Solomon wisdom, wealth, power, position--blessings beyond measure. God gave me blessings beyond measure. Be careful Larry. Do not forget the source of all blessings and begin to worship the blessings. We know for Solomon that he finally figured out all these things did not matter--he called them vanity. Perhaps all I really need to remember is the last words of Ecclesiastes--"The conclusion . . fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring ecervy act to judgment, everything that is hidden, whether it is good or evil."

Blessings

Larry